When asked on Friday night if she would be commenting on Setka’s resignation,ACTU secretary Sally McManus replied,“No”.

One of the union movement’s most controversial figures,Setka famously fell out with then-opposition leader Anthony Albanese over comments he made about anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty.

He wasforced out of the Australian Labor Party in 2019,but relations improved in 2022 when he donated to the party’s federal election campaign.

The federal government went on to demolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission,which launched multiple legal cases against the CFMEU that cost the union millions of dollars.

Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke last month accused Setka of thuggery and bullying after the state branch secretary threatened his members would delay AFL construction projects unless it fired its currenthead of umpiring,Stephen McBurney.

McBurney was the formerAustralian Building and Construction Commissioner.

Last month,Burke announced legislation that would allow the manufacturing division of the CFMEU to break away from the construction division,motivated by Setka’s behaviour.

“It became clear when we saw John Setka’s comments about the AFL that the construction division at the moment is not behaving in a way that lends itself towards constructive outcomes,” he said.

“The construction division,while we’d been considering what we might do,that attack on the AFL really made the decision clear and made the timing immediate.”

Burke has been contacted for comment on Setka’s resignation.

Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Setka’s resignation was welcome following his “appalling behaviour over many years”.

"Unfortunately there are many in the CFMEU who emulate Mr Setka and who exhibit similar behaviour. Unless this behaviour is stomped out,our construction sector will continue to be held back,"she said.

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